Replanning the Geary Area in the Western Addition

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San Francisco Public Library

REFERENCE BOOK

Not to be taken from the Library

REPLANNING THE GEARY AREA

addition

i n the w e s t e r n

Containing a description and an
explanation of the PRELIMINARY
REDEVELOPMENT PLAN, Project
Number One, Western Addition

Redevelopment Area

Prepared with the advice and assis-
tance of Elmore Hutchison, Engineer,
and Vernon DeMars and Albert
Roller, Architects.

MARCH 5, 1952

SAN FRANCISCO DEPARTMENT OF CITY PLANNING

IN COOPERATION WITH THE REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY

CITY AKD COUNTY OF SAN FEANCISCO

Elmer E„ Rotinson, Mayor
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS

Dewey Mead, President
Byron Arnold
George Jo Christopher
Harold S, Dobbs
John Jo Ferdon
Marvin Lewis
Chester Ro MacPhee
Edward T» Mancuso
Francis McCarty
Patrick Jo McMurray
John Jo Sullivan

DEPARTMENT OF CITY PLANNING

City Planning Commission

Ernest E. Williams, President
William D. Kilduff MrSo Eugene M. Prince

Harold T„ Lopez Elmer J. Towle

Ex Officio Members

Thomas Ac. Brooks^ Chief Administrative Officer
Bo Ao Devine, Designated Deputy for James H. Turner,
Manager of Utilities

Paul Oppermann, Director

REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY

Morgan Gunst, Chairman
Thor Gravem Dro J. Joseph Hayes

Lawrence Palacios James E, Stratten

James E, Lash, Director

ii

CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO

ELMER E. ROBINSON

MAYOR

DEPARTMENT OF CITY PLANNING

JOSEPH MIGNOLA, JR.

PAUL OPPERMANN

DIRECTOR OF PLANNING

100 LARKIN STREET • CIVIC CENTER • SAN FRANCISCO 2. CALIFORNIA

SECRETARY

February 2^ , 1952

COMMISSIONERS:

ERNEST E. WILLIAMS

PRESIDENT

MRS. EUGENE M. PRINCE

VICE-PRESIDENT

Mr. James E. Lash, Director
Eedevelopment Agency
512 Golden Gate Avenue
San Francisco 2, California

WILLIAM D. KILDUFF
HAROLD T. LOPEZ
ELMER J. TOWLE

EX-OFFiaO:

THOMAS A. BROOKS

CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER

Dear Mr. Lash:

JAMES H. TURNER

MANAGER OF UTIUTIES

The City Planning Commission has authorized and directed me to submit to the Re-
development Agency the Preliminary Redevelopment Plan for Project Area Number One in
the Western Addition Redevelopment Area. In compliance with its responsibility under
the California Redevelopment Law, the City Planning Commission has selected the re-
development project area and has formulated the Preliminary Redevelopment Plan.

I take pleasure in submitting to you this report which contains the Preliminary
Plan, explains it, and relates it to the master plan for the physical development of
the City and County of San Francisco.

The boundaries selected for the project area have been chosen to include such
portions of the redevelopment area as preliminary joint staff discussions have indicat-
ed might be financed, under your present understanding with the Federal government. We
conclude that invoking the various provisions of the California Community Redevelopment
Law to redevelop this Area according to the Plan would achieve the purposes of the Law.

Use of the Redevelopment Law is necessary as part of a comprehensive program for
public and private improvements in the Geary area of the Western Addition. The City
Planning Commission in 19^5 adopted a Land Use Plan, a Transportation and Utilities
Plan, and a General Plan for Redevelopment of Blighted Areas and, in 19^1, adopted a
Trafficways Plan and One-Way Street Plan. These have set the framework for this com-
prehensive program and for the Preliminary Redevelopment Plan.

Within the redevelopment project area and adjoining it there have been proposed
various public improvements essential to the redevelopment of the project area and to
the general improvement of the Western Addition. These have been included in our
annual Capital Improvement Program and are also described in the present report. The
Preliminary Plan assumes their completion.

Rebuilding the Geary area in the Western Addition will reclaim it as an economi-
cally healthy, well functioning, and attractive part of San Francisco's cherished en-
vironment. It means better use of the land, better standards of living. It means
greater opportunities for business and a greater choice of accommodations to meet
present-day family needs . It means more convenient routes for transit and private
automobiles. It will provide more adequate space for schools , now crowded, and better,
indoor and outdoor recreation facilities sorely needed in this area.

Improvements of this magnitude cannot be achieved without inconveniencing some,
but your carefully worked out proposals for scheduling the program are convincing
evidence that, compared with the great benefits to be derived from the improvements
by all the citizens of San Francisco including the residents of the Western Addition,
hardship will be minimized.

The supply of good-quality, low-rent, permanent accommodations in the area
vill "be increased in number by approximately 600 apartments in the public housing
now under development by the San Francisco Housing Authority, Your initiative in
arranging for this housing and in indicating the size of families to be accommo-
dated has led to a constructive answer to a most difficult rehousing problem.

Of equal importance are the scheduling plans within the redevelopment project
area, which you have worked out in extensive conferences with organizations and
individuals in the Western Addition, As you have shown, the traditional very
rapid movement of families and single individuals into and out of dwellings in
the Geary area (almost one third in a year) makes it possible to schedule acqui-
sition and demolition when buildings, through move-outs, become largely or com-
pletely vacant,

I am mindful, also, of your factual studies which have shown that so long as
a large number of new houses are being constmicted in San Francisco, (as will be
encouraged by the companion .redevelopm.ent project at Diamond Heights) dwellings
will be vacated and made available throughout San Francisco, including many in
the Western Addition, While I realize that there is a big job ahead in organiz-
ing so that these vacancies will be available to site occupants, I am confident
that the efforts the Eedevelopment Agency proposes to make in this regard will be
effective,

I note that market value will be offered for all property acquired for
redevelopment, as for all public improvements. You have previously noted that
there has been some confusion on this point: it is sometimes believed that the
assessed value for tax purposes will be considered the value for purchase, I am
in agreement with your position that every opportunity should be taken to make
clear that market value will be paid and that this is required by law.

With the great prospective physical improvement in mind and in confidence
that the project will prove financially soun.d, we are delighted to join with
you in the step-by-step procedure leading toward these accomplishments. The
Department of City Planning appreciated the opportunity to work with the Ee-
development Agency and its staff members assigned to this project.

Your three distinguished consultants, Messrs, Vernon De Mars and Albert
Eoller, architects, and E, Elmore Hutchison, Engineer, in their advice and par-
ticipation throughout, and Mr, De Mars also in making the perspective sketches,
have contributed greatly to the Preliminary Plan, We have enjoyed and have
profited greatly in having been associated with these gentlemen.

With best wishes for the success of this project, I am

Sincerely yours.

Paul Oppermanji, f
Director of Planning

3 1223 06194 7934

I

Sucjcjcstcd Site Development

REDEVELOrMENT PROJECT NUMBER ONE
WESTERN ADDITION REDEVELOrA\ENT AREA

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EXISTINO PLIUPINOS

SUMMARY

(Numbers in parentheses refer to figures shown on Plate 1)

Although the area along the mile-long stretch of Geary Street in the Western Addition is now
blighted, it originally offered fine building sites. The old mansions and large flats have been cut
into tiny apartments, traffic has increased to a noisy and dangerous degree and buildings have de-
teriorated.

Yet nowhere in the West is there an area with greater advantages for a wider variety of
building types. A mile from Union Square and only a few blocks further from the financial center, it
is convenient to all parts of the Bay Area. It rises from 100 feet above sea level to 200 feet, and
provides a fine outlook, yet it is sheltered on the north and west by higher hills.

By clearing a large area, 26 blocks in extent, by widening Geary Street east of Broderick
Street from 68 feet to 1^5 feet, by improving and extending schools, playgrounds, and other public
facilities, by making available 36 acres for private residential development, five acres for institu-
tions, and 10 acres for commerce, the area can be transformed, taking advantage of its varied oppor-
tunities.

The Preliminary Plan as formulated by the Planning Commission is contained in the Appendix.
The report describes and explains the Plan. Redevelopment will forge a connecting link in the Western
Addition between Anza Vista on the west and Van Ness Avenue or, che east past the Benjamin Franklin
Junior High School (Girls High School) (l), the Fillmore shopping district (2), the residential area
on the slopes of the hill around the Octavia Street intersection, and the group of churches and
schools at Gough and Franklin Streets. Present buildings will remain throughout approximately 20 per
cent of the area. The rest of the area will be cleared and sold or leased.

The city's officially adopted plan of trafficways sets the framework for the development.
In the Western Addition traffic and transit will be channeled along a few main arteries. Other
streets can be limited to local access.

Under the Preliminary Plan some of the streets are to be closed to traffic entirely, in this
way helping to create superblocks (3)^ (^), (5)^ and providing a quieter, safer, more pleasant place
to live, and space for recreation and parking of cars.

Benjamin Franklin Junior High School is made the nucleus of a Community Center, with a Com-
munity Recreation Center (6), just east of it. Raphael Weill Elementary School also, is improved and
its facilities extended (7). Two new neighborhood shopping centers are proposed (8), (9). Space is
is provided for offices, laboratories and professional buildings (10), (11), (12).

Section A of this report describes the Geary area, its physical character, the history of
its development, and its present blighted condition.

Section B outlines the plans which set the framework for redevelopment planning, including
the widening of Geary Street, the Community Center which Geary Street crosses, and the residential
neighborhoods.

Section C first distinguishes the Western Addition Redevelopment Area, which lies south of
California Street, from the larger Western Addition Community, and then describes the Geary Project
Area and each of the elements of the Preliminary Redevelopment Plan, including the proposed land
uses, layout of principal streets, population densities, and building intensities and standards.

Section D ties the redevelopment project to other projects for improvement of the Western
Addition Community, including public low-rent housing and private rehabilitation. Architect's plans
have been drawn for two nearby public low-rent housing projects which will accommodate about 2,000
persons and will be important in rehousing low-income families now living in buildings which are to
be torn down.

Redevelopment of the Geary area is expected to be accomplished over a period of several
years. Further opportunities in adjacent areas for private and public construction and rehabilita-
tion are pointed out, including long-term improvement in schools and shopping centers.

- 1 -

CONTENTS

Page

Letter of Transmittal

Summary „ , „ „ „ o . o = . » = „ o » » » » <, » » » » o » , « 1
Table of Contents o o o „ . » ii

Section

A The Geary Area,

B Plans for Building in the Geary Area.

C The Preliminary Eedevelopment Plan for Project

Area Number One, Western Addition.
D Further Improvement of the Geary Area o
Appendix: Part Two, Preliminary Eedevelopment Plan,

Project Area Number One.
Acknowledgements „

Plates

1 Suggested Site Development, Eedevelopment Project
Number One (Frontispiece)

2 Architect's Perspective Sketch of Suggested

Tall Buildings o .............. . C-11

3 Architect's Perspective Sketch of Suggested

Medium-Height Buildings . . . C-15

h Architect's Perspective Sketch of Suggested

Low Buildings C-21

5 Part One, Preliminary Eedevelopment Plan,

Project Area Number One (Appendix)

Tables

1 Use of Land in Project Area Number One,

Western Addition . » „ C- 5

2 Population Densities and Building Intensities for

Project Area Number One, Western Addition C-12

3 Population Holding Capacity under Preliminary

Plan o o ... o .... o o C-l8

k Standards for Commercial

Areas .... .o .................. . C-19

ii -

Ao THE GEARY AEEA

1. The Physical Character of The Western Addition Community

A mile west of the downtown business center of San Francisco lies the West-
ern Addition Community, a wide valley of a little more than one mile square,
bordered by hills on three sides. It is bounded by Broadway on the ridge to the
north and by Fell Street on the south o Van Ness Avenue runs just outside the
eastern boundary. On the north and west, high land encloses the area along
Pacific Heights and at Lone Mountain, with Anzavista lying just within the com-
munity and Laurel Hill just outside along Masonic and Presidio Avenues.

The terrain is adaptable to every sort of development- -new apartments and
hotels on the hilltops; homes, flats and walk-up apartments on the slopes;
shopping and business centers on the flat ground. The area early attracted
fine homes, major churches of many denominations, and hospitals, and has always
been recognized as having the advantages of convenience to downtown, a shelter-
ed climate and, from the ridges, a fine outlook over the Bay.

Important east-west trafficways traverse the Western Addition Community,
linking the Eichmond and Park-Presidio Communities with the downtown area.
Secondary north- south thoroughfares provide access across Pacific Heights to
the Marina on the north and to the geographic center of the city to the south.

2. The Development Of the Western Addition Community

Developed in the period following the Civil War as an area of large homes
and sizable flats, the Western Addition did not suffer widespread destruction
in the disaster of I906 as did the portions of the city to the east. For a
brief period immediately following the earthquake and fire, the area south of
California Street became the City's retail center. It also became a highly con-
gested area as residences were converted for use as boarding houses and apart-
ments for those who had been burned outo

Whern business returned to the rebuilt downtown section and new homes and
apartments sprang up east and west of it the Western Addition south of Califor-
nia Street began its long period of decline. Hasty changes made to accommodate
the fire refugees proved to be permanent. Homes built for one or two families
came to be used by two, three and eventually even ten times as many families.
Inadequate and shared kitchens, baths, and toilets; insufficient provision for
fire escapes; improvised shops in dwelling structures; rooms too small for nor-
mal occupancy - all these became characteristic of the area.

Eventually industries and warehouses entered into the competition for land.
Trucks and automobiles competed for the use of the streets. New additions to
old buildings tended to be flimsy and makeshift. Empty lots became unkempt.

The original street plan for the Western Addition followed the simple grid-
iron scheme characteristic of most subdivisions of the mid-nineteenth century
in the United States, and was an extension of the plan laid down in l8^9»
Streets with a uniform width of 68 feet 9 inches were mapped (including 10 or

A-1

15-foot sidewalks on either side)o The blocks were laid out on a 50 vara base
and measured klO feet east and west and 275 feet north and south o Generally the
blocks were divided into lots by splitting down the center, so that one row of
lots faced south and the other row faced north o Occasionally along the center
line an "alley", or 35-foot street was mapped separating the row of north- facing
lots from those facing south. Where this was not done a group of "key" lots wer
often platted facing on the cross streets.

In the portion of the Western Addition south of California Street the typic L
residential building consists of two or three stories, is built across the entir
frontage of a 25-foot lot, and extends back into the 137''5-foct depth, leaving
only a small back yard. Originally some of the houses and flats were placed bac!
from the sidewalk line, but most front directly on the sidewalk. Generally day-
light enters from the north or south, from the street or backyards, and direct
sunlight enters only those windows which face south, while windows with true
north exposure receive no direct sunlight. This part of the Western Addition,
south of California Street, was designated in 19^7 "by the Board of Supervisors
as the first "redevelopment area" in San Francisco o

While its development pattern is not linusual in San Francisco, the Western
Addition Eedevelopment Area is unique in the city for the extent to which the
buildings have been converted „ While single-family houses on 25-foot lots ordi-
narily accommodate about 50 persons per acre, a typical acre of residential builc
ings in the Western Addition now houses more than 200 people „ This has occurred
through division of the houses and flats into numerous one and two-room apartment <,
The inadequacies of housing in the Western Addition Redevelopment Area center in
these converted structures. The problem is complicated by the original develop-
ment plan, the type of buildings originally placed there, and the growing volume
of through traffic using its streets.

Between 1900, when most of the present residential and church buildings in
the Western Addition had been completed, and 1921, when the San Francisco zoning
ordinance was adopted, commercial and industrial establishments were introduced
throughout the area, sometimes in groups along such streets as Fillmore, but also
scattered haphazardly on residential streets » These brought noise and truck
traffic ,

With the growth of the residential areas to the west, the tide of commuter
and business traffic roseo High traffic volumes have had a blighting effect on
the living qualities of the area, and this problem must be solved in replanning,

3, Existing Conditions in the Geary Area

The changes which have come to the Western Addition have been a downward
spiral, marked by overcrowding of the land, overcrowding of structures, deter-
ioration, and discouragement resulting in further deterioration. Recent sur-
veys have shown how this process has culminated in blight with its consequences
of ill-health, accidents, fires, delinquency, excessive municipal costs and de-
ficient property tax revenues. Included in these surveys are the following:

Real Property Inventory of San Francisco (Showing conditions in 1939)

Housing Analytical Maps, San Francisco (Part of the 19^10 Census)

A-2

I

. The Redevelopment of Blighted Areas (Based in part on the Real Property In-
ventory and 19^0 Census and showing, also, condemned buildings, fires,
major offenses known to the police, juvenile delinquency, social service
cases and costs, and assessed values, and concluding with maps showing
general areas in which conditions indicative of blight were found, and
critical areas blighted or threatened by blight and scheduled for
special study);

Western Addition District Redevelopment Survey (19^7)

(The area surveyed included about half of the area of the Western
Addition Community, housing about 50,000 persons „ The survey showed
that kk per cent of the family dwelling units did not have exclusive
use of toilet, bathing, and installed cooking facilities, and concluded,
"The mixture of uses, the crowding together of buildings, the lack of
play space for children, and the old-fashioned street pattern with its
hazardous intersections doom the area to further decline, so that it is
only a matter of time until most of it does become a slum.");

The Condition of Residential Areas (19^9)

(a map showing "arrested areas"; wartime temporary housing projects;
and other residential blocks in terms of the condition of their struc-
tures, such neighborhood conditions as street pattern, traffic, mixed
residential and industrial uses, high land- coverage, and tuberculosis,
juvenile delinquency, crime, excessive need for social service, and
high tax delinquency);

An Appraisal of the Quality of Housing and Environment, Divisadero and Jeffer-
son Square Districts in the Western Addition, San Francisco, California (1951)'

The earlier surveys had shown that the Western Addition south of California
Street is one of the areas suffering most from physical deterioration and were the
basis for designation by the Mayor and Board of Supervisors on August 3^ 19^8^ of
the redevelopment area. Under the California Community Redevelopment Law this is
the first step in bringing to bear the provisions of the Law to help in rebuilding
a blighted area. The surveys also pointed up the concentration of blight along
Geary Street and in the vicinity of Jefferson Square.

It was clear from the surveys that early effort was called for in the Western
Addition Redevelopment Area. To make doubly sure, with up-to-date information, of
the extent of the blight (and also to obtain information on size of families to
help in planning eventual rehousing) a sample survey was conducted along Geary
Street between Broderick Street on the west and Franklin Street on the east, ex-
tending down the slope between Geary Street and Jefferson Square, and also into
the blocks south of Benjamin Franklin Junior High School (Girls High School) at
Scott and Geary Streets, The sample survey utilized the techniques developed by
the American Public Health Association and thoroughly covered conditions in the
dwelling, in whole structures, and in the neighborhoods. It was conducted by staff
members of the Department of Health, the Department of City Planning, and the Re-
development Agency, which also financed and supervised tabulation and analysis of
the results. With minor modifications, the area of this survey was the area for
which suggested site development is shown on Plate 1.

A- 3

The buildings were originally well constructed and designed to house from
one to six families. A majority of them have been divided into one and two-
room units without proper sanitary and cooking facilities^ so that ^0 per cent
of the buildings house more than twice as many families as designed for.

Nearly two- thirds, or about 2;, 100 of the dwellings are described in the re-
port as rating in the lowest two of five classes^, and nearly kO per cent are
rated in the lowest class. The survey showed that 8o per cent of the small
apartments, most of which were in converted structures ranked in the two lowest
classes „

The principal deficiencies of the district are the result of crowding too
many apartments into buildings not designed for them. More than half of the
apartments do not have adequate toilet facilities, as many as 15 sharing one
toilet. Similarly more than half of the dwellings lack a private bath. Kitchen
facilities are inadequate in nearly half. More than half of the dwellings have
no installed heater in at least half of their rooms, and one= sixth of the dwell=
ings have no installed heat at all. Two-thirds of the dwellings are reported to
contain rooms too small to meet reasonable standards of normal occupancy.
Although 95 per cent of the structures are of wood, one^third of the dwellings
fail to meet the standard of two separate exits in case of fire.

The specific types of deficiencies are the result of the difficult practical
problems faced by the owners: The buildings are large and old and the cost of
repair and modernization is high; installation of expensive bathroom and kitchen
facilities is almost always required. Traditionally dwelling places are provided
by dividing the house into smaller and smaller apartments, by carving them out of
basement or attic space, or by extending the building toward the rear of the lot.
The new apartments are added with only the most make shift modernization, and
baths and kitchens are shared by more families.

As the survey indicates, there are two theoretical rehabilitation oppor-
tunities :

(1) To bring the present small apartments up to standard by installing
the required facilities and overcoming structural deterioration,

(2) To return the structures to their original character as large flats
and homes.

The first would require meeting legal requirements for an apartment house
under the State Housing Act, In meeting these requirements the buildings would
have to undergo major physical changes, A typical problem is to find space in
already small apartments for the required toilets. Another is the one-room
apartment." it is illegal to cook and sleep in the same room.

The survey showed that 30 per cent of the buildings are seriously deter-
J. orated o Where there is fiondamental deterioration of the structure, superficial
repairs are insufficient. Similarly, where buildings do not meet yard, court and
vent" shaft requirements expensive major structural changes would be required in
exterior walls. Substandard ceiling heights in attic and basement apartments,
illegal occupancy of basements or of four floors in a frame building, are addi-
tional examples of the difficulty.

The possibilities of rehabilitation were carefully examined in a study of a
block of three- story apartment houses which appeared from exterior appearance to
lend themselves to rehabilitation. Experienced inspectors and appraisers studied
the possibilities.. The report described the inadequacies found, and the condi-
tions which could not be permitted to continue after rehabilitation, under the
State Housing Act, The report concluded it was a "hopeless block for rehabilita-
tion of a type which would house approximately the same number of people in multi-
family buildings „ "

In addition to such conditions as the failure to provide fire escapes, to
remove closets from under wooden stairs, to vent gas ranges, and to board up
transoms opening on public halls, a large number were found which would require
reduced occupancy or important structural change » These include:

1, Basement occupancy;

2= Insufficient open lot area;

3o Inadequately small light courts;

k. Failure to provide unobstructed access from the rear yard of an

apartment house to the street;
5o Occupancy of rooms with substandard dimensions;

6. Public hallways of less than minimum width;

7. Public stairs of less than minimum width;

8. Failure to carry stairs nearest main entrance of apartment building
all the way to the roof;

9. Failure to meet even the generous requirement which permits buildings
built before 1923 to have only one bath or shower for every five
apartments and one toilet for every three;

10, Window, or windows, on property line.

It has not proved economic to make the major structural changes required in
removing these violations. Reconstruction would be extremely expensive and would
require that the apartments then command rents sufficiently high to pay for the
thorough-going modernization.

It is especially difficult to do this in a neighborhood so depressed and
poorly maintained that neighboring owners have long since become discouraged.
It is not at all helpful in renting a modernized apartment to exhibit dingy sur-
roundings,, mixed shops and apartments in makeshift quarters, noise and danger of
heavy traffic, frequent visits of the fire department, and rubbish- littered empty
lots. That owners have not successfully met such odds is indicated by the average
monthly rent of $35 found by the survey in this area.

Nor is it economic to return structijres to their original use. While it is
plausible that the larger apartments thus created would then have their own sani-
tary and cooking facilities and illegal occupancy would terminate, the structural
violations would not all be cleared up simply by reconversion and, in any case,
the financial problem would be serious. For example:

A certain three-family structure which has been converted to 17 units, with
heat and furniture included in rent, produces a gross income of $^4-92, GO per month.
Upon returning to a three-family structure each unit would have to rent in the
neighborhood of $l6o,00 per month if the owner were to maintain his income level
from the building. Even if this rent could be obtained, net income or return on
investment would be substantially reduced, if not altogether wiped out, by
financing costs for the remodeling operation,

A-5

Obviously, the proposal to return the area to its original character
single -family buildings and five and six-room flats -- is economically impractical.
The one and two-room apartments with relatively low rents, populated by house-
holds of one or two persons, were provided in answer to a popular demand for
small apartments in an area with good transportation close to the downtown section.
It is doubtful if even during a period of housing shortage there is a large group
of families with several children who want five or six-room dwellings in this
neighborhood as it now is^blighted and overbuilt <. Certainly there is little
effective demand for large, old-fashioned flats in a run-down district at rents
of $150,00 and up.

Since neither reconversion, nor correction of the violation in the existing
small apartments appears feasible, large-scale demolition and rebuilding is clear-
ly indicated. This does not mean that a few buildings might not remain and be
rehabilitated. Individual study has so far indicated some buildings which
could be economically retained without interfering with overall site planning
and rebuilding. Rehabilitation might be feasible also in districts not included
in the survey. But a major program of rehabilitation in the Geary area of the
Western Addition is not economic or practical.

Instead of modernization of either of the above types there is the tradi-
tional practice! more conversion and extension of buildings and occupancy of
cellar and attic leading to higher and higher population density per structure.
The process has resulted in an average density of 20^+ persons to the residential
acre on the average (530 persons in a wholly residential block). It is a process
by which old mansions designed for a family of 3, and two servants, now house 30,
and even 50 persons.

As time goes on, each of the expedients backfires? the extension of the
building back into the lot puts more windows facing into those of adjoining build-
ings, with little privacy or light (if the blinds are drawn light is further re-
duced). Cutting the house into smaller apartments means sharing of toilets, of
kitchens, inadequate food storage equipment, use of washbasins for kitchen sinks,
overloading of electrical wiring, and many other insanitary, dangerous and awkward
makeshifts. Possibly worst of all, basement occupancy frequently means occupancy
of unlighted, unventilated rooms.

The relationship of all this to tuberculosis, dysentery, "flu," common colds,
accidents, fires and a psychology of defeatism is not difficult to trace and
these questions of health, safety, and welfare are a well-established constitu-
tional basis for remedial action.

A-6

B. PLANS FOE BUILDING IF THE GEAEY AEEA

Within the area along Geary Street in the Western Addition Community a
number of recent and proposed projects will aid in arresting the blighting
process and in reclaiming the area for healthy living » These improvements in=
elude trafficways, school and recreation projects, and residential, commercial
and institutional developments which will improve the Community's major shop-
ping district and the residential neighborhoods.

1. Trafficways ^

Because of its location between the downtown area and the large residential
population to the west, the Geary area now serves as a corridor, and will be
greatly affected by the completion of the major lines in the long-term, compre-
hensive plan for trafficways.,

The major elements of the Trafficways Plan affecting traffic in the Geary
area are:

a. The Panhandle Freeway. This major trafficway will form the southern
boundary of the Western Addition Community, and will carry the bulk of the east-
west through- traffic between the downtown and the Sunset and Lake Merced areas.
Those areas and the Peninsula will also be served by the Mission Freeway. The
Panhandle Freeway with its connecting routes to the west will have a traffic-
carrying capacity greater than that of all the surface routes through the West-
ern Addition Community,

The Panhandle Freeway will carry the greater part of the increasing traffic
through the Western Addition from the west and south. Traffic between San Fran-
cisco and Marin County, which is also rapidly growing, is accommodated north of
the Western Addition Community and will not greatly affect it. With northern
and southern traffic so accommodated, the major function of east-west through-
streets in the Geary area is to connect the Richmond and Outer Richmond Com-
munities with the downtown area,

b, Geary Street Widening. The widening and improvement of Geary Street to
meet expressway standards is one of the few street-widening projects in the
adopted Trafficways Plan. It has been proposed by the Department of Public Works
for inclusion in the Capital Improvement Program. Geary Street is already 125
feet wide west of Broderick Street, The project will widen another mile closer
to the downtown area, ending at Gough Street where diagonal streets will connect
north to Post Street and south to O'Farrell Street, The latter pair are propos-
ed as one-way streets from Franklin Street east to lower Market Street, and
neither will require widening.

The Geary widening project passes through much of the worst blight in the
Western Addition, and is a major factor in planning for the elimination of the
blight 0

With the completion of the Panhandle Freeway, the Geary Street widening,
and the improvement of California and McAllister Streets, which are the other

B-1

east-west through traffic routes in the Western Addition^ there will be suffi-
cient capacity to carry estimated future east-west traffic through the Western
Addition, as has been shown in earlier reports, including Staff Beport to the
Be development Agency on Estimates of Traffic Volumes and Required Design Capa-
cities of Trafficways in the Western Addition Community,

c. The Central Freeway » This major north-south link in the belt around the
downtown area will distribute traffic between the downtown area and the major
routes to the south, west and north, and to the Bay Bridge, The route parallels
Van Ness Avenue., Until the Central Freeway is constructed Franklin and Gough
Streets as a one-way pair will help carry the growing north- south load through
the Western Additiono Plans for access to redeveloped areas adjacent to these
streets must take account of the one-way limitation on circulationo

d. Webster Street Widening, Divisadero, already an 80-foot street.
Masonic Avenue, a four- lane thoroughfare widened in some portions and Webster
Street, to be widened, also serve to carry the north-south traffic. Designation
of Webster Street as the future major north= south traffic route between Gough and
Divisadero Streets makes it desirable that any new development along Webster
Street be set back. This also offers a future opportunity for clearance of
blighted structures along Webster Street in the Western Addition.

2. The Community Center

Each "community", in the land use studies of the Department of City Plan-
ning, is composed of residential neighborhoods grouped around major service
facilities such as a high school, junior high school, community playfield, large
park, and major shopping center. Community boundaries are determined by natural
or man-made barriers, including freeways.

The land use plans of the Department of City Planning are based in part on
the principle that major educational and recreational facilities should be locat-
ed on a central site within each community, A prototype for this integrated
facility is the center to be constructed in the Sunset Community,

Two major community facilities suitable for a Community Center have been
proposed to serve the entire Western Addition Community, the residence of 90,000
persons ,

a- Benjamin Franklin Junior High School, to be converted on an extended
site from the present Girls High School^, is part of the school expansion program
of the San Francisco Unified School District as indicated in the Capital Improve-
ment Program, In order to bring the site into conformity with accepted junior
high school playground standards, an additional area eventually will be required
to accommodate softball and other field sports.

^' A Major Recreational Facility, including gymnasium, swimming pool, club-
rooms and offices, and outdoor facilities in the Hamilton Playground area has
been for some years part of the recreation program and it is expected that it
will be financed wholly or in part from bond funds available to the Recreation
and Park Department, Because the widening of Geary Street will reduce the area
of the present Hamilton Playground, there is a critical need for land to accom-
modate the expansion, A solution to this problem is proposed in Section C,

B-2

The adopted master plan of land use calls for an increase in the playgrounds and
school grounds of the Western Addition, a considerable part of this increase to
be in the form of major facilities such as are now proposed for the Community
Center. Since the area to the north as well as to the south of Geary Street is
blighted, these programs will contribute to the removal of blight »

3. The Community Shopping District

Along the flat part of Fillmore Street between the hill south of Fulton
Street and the gently shelving slope north of Sutter Street lies the Western
Addition Community shopping center „ North of Geary Street it extends further
west, to Pierce Street, and to the east, it nearly joins with the shopping dis-
trict centering on Buchanan and Post Streets, South of Geary Street, it extends
for varying distances up to a block on either side of Fillmore,

South of the large new market which has just been completed between Turk
and Golden Gate, Fillmore Street takes on the character of a neighborhood
shopping center. Indeed, there is some tendency for neighborhood type stores
and small branch banks to develop around each of the intersections where east=
west transit lines cross Fillmore. These include the lines on Sutter, Geary
and Eddy Streets, the limited stop service on Golden Gate Avenue, and the
McAllister Street lines. The long-term transit plans continue Sutter, Geary
and McAllister Streets as the major transit routes and place one local line on
the streets between Geary and McAllister. Within this general framework it
should be possible for merchants to make long term plans so that retail facili-
ties are properly related to the transit stops.

The improvement of an important shopping district such as this one is largely
a process of action by the merchants and property owners, acting individually and
through their organizations. The continuous process of modernization of individ-
ual stores in the rest of the Fillmore Shopping district must not be forgotten
in assessing the forces at work in rebuilding the Geary area, and there is much
to be done in arranging for parking and truck-loading space, in rezoning, and in
improving pedestrian circulation in the area. While it is here proposed that
redevelopment powers be invoked only in the Geary area, redevelopment should en-
courage and stimulate further action in adjacent sections.

The widening of Geary Street can contribute to the attractiveness and to
the improvement of business in the Fillmore shopping district by providing bet-
ter access for customers from a wide area. If more customers arrive by auto-
mobile the present lack of parking lots available to the public and serving the
Fillmore district near Geary Street will become recognized as a problem. It is
therefore increasingly important that adequate off-street parking be provided.
Similarly, the lack of off-street truck- loading space, which leads to congestion
on the streets, shows the need for such facilities accompanying new commercial
development in the area.

The Besidential Neighborhoods Bordering Geary Street in the Western Addition,

While the area bordering Geary Street is an appropriate place for important
community- wide facilities, most of the Geary area is proposed in the land use
plan to continue in residential land use. In the studies of the Department of
City Planning, the residential areas of the city have been divided into neigh-

B-3

borhoods, the primary units for planning schools, playgroiinds, a shopping center
and local streets. Exclusion of through-traf f ic from each neighborhood is an
important objective, and requires that major streets carry through-traffic
between and around neighborhoods » Therefore, neighborhood boundaries consist
largely of such major streets „

Planning studies show six neighborhoods bordering Geary Street in the West-
ern Addition o Three lie north of Geary Street, between it and California Street,
and three lie to the south, between Geary and McAllister Street <, Divisadero
and Webster Streets are the other boundary streets.

Each of these six neighborhoods, with the exception of the one north of
Geary Street and east of Webster Street, has an elementary schools, With the im-
provement of designated streets to carry increased traffic loads around neigh-
borhoods, it is feasible from a traffic standpoint to close the local streets
to through-traffic and thereby permit children to walk to and from school free
of traffic dangers e However, when ownerships are divided along a block it is
generally impossible to get unanimous agreement for closing a street. The op-
portunity to close streets to through- traffic comes when an area is in one
ownership as during redevelopment.

In the Anzavista neighborhood, south of Geary Street and west of Divisadero
Street, there was a recent opportunity to subdivide for residential purposes
land formerly in single ownership as a cemetery. The local street plan which
was there adopted illustrates the principle of integration with the surrounding
street pattern, while at the same time discouraging through=traf f ic by eliminat-
ing at least one block of street area along each local street.

Not only the Anzavista residential development itself -TDut the Sears Boebuck
store, the new elementary school near Masonic Avenue, the new Maimdnides and
enlarged Mt, Zion Hospitals, and the proposed Permanente Hospital on Geary Street
all are evidence of improvement which can occur in the Western Addition once
large buildable parcels are made available on an improved local street system
as part of an areawide rebuilding program.

Within the other neighborhoods, also, improvements are planned which can
help to replace blight and to encourage further improvement, A number of the
churches and parochial schools between Geary Street and Jefferson Square are
among the most substantial buildings in the Western Addition, even without
further improvement. Several of these intend to expand.

Another major land holder in the Western Addition Redevelopment Area is the
San Francisco Housing Authority which operates Westside Courts at Post and
Broderick Streets, an apartment house development to serve low income families
at low rents, and a number of smaller temporary developments within the area.
The Board of Supervisors has approved two additional sites for low-rent housing,
one in each of the two neighborhoods south of Geary Street between Van Ness
Avenue and Divisadero Street, Each site comes to just under two blocks, and
the two will house a total of about 600 families. These projects will clear
blighted blocks and provide low-rent accommodations. Appraisals have been made
looking to early acquisition, architectural drawings are now being prepared,
and the two developments are scheduled for early completion in the Authority's
program.

^. A Program of Improvement in the Geary Area

Despite the many improvements completed, underway, and proposed for the
Western Addition near Geary Street, even all these separated projects together
cannot reclaim the large area of blight o There must be a comprehensive plan
and a concerted program,,
\

Authorization for preparing and maintaining a master plan was given the
Department of City Planning in 1932 « A master plan containing sections on
transportation, land use, and redevelopment was adopted In 19^5 to meet the
requirements of the California Community Eedevelopment LaWo Postwar revisions
adopted by the City Planning Commission include the Trafficways Plan and the
Plan of One-Way Streets, and recent staff studies of land use have been made
for the city and for each of its communities „ These are all general plans and
leave room for intensive planning of individual projects » The plan which is the
chief subject of this report, the Preliminary Eedevelopment Plan for Project
Area Number One, also is a general plan leaving the detailed planning of minor
streets and all building plans to the Redevelopment Agency and cooperating
private and public agencies „

During the period while master plan studies have been underway a workable
redevelopment program has been developed for participation by private enterprise,
The California Community Eedevelopment Act, passed in 19^5;> empowered cities,
through their redevelopment agencies, to purchase property in blighted areas
(by condemnation, if necessary), to modify, close, and lay out new streets, to
replat the area, and to sell or lease the land to private developers at its
fair value for the proposed uses.

In the Western Addition Redevelopment Area, so designated by the Board of
Supervisors in 19^8, the Geary Area is the first project area for which a Pre-
liminary Plan has been prepared » The work was performed by the Department of
City Planning under work order from the Eedevelopment Agency with the active
participation of Eedevelopment Agency staff and consultants » The preceding
text has outlined the plans and development projects which have set the physi-
cal framework for the Plan^ The map and text constituting the Plan are print-
ed in Appendix Ao The following Section explains the Plan,

B-5

Co THE PRELIMINAEY REDEVELOPMENT PLAN FOR PROJECT AREA NUMBER ONE ^

1. Extent of the Project Area

Redevelopment of the blighted core of the Western Addition Community af-
fords an opportunity for effectively replacing present blight by a healthy,
we 11- functioning and efficient living environment of homes, schools, churches,
shops, and playgrounds. Redevelopment will also facilitate the widening and
improvement of Geary Street across the entire Western Addition as a necessary
part of the adopted Trafficways Plan and make possible the redesign of other
streets for local access.

Within the large blighted area in the Western Addition Redevelopment Area,
Redevelopment Project Area Number (^e has been selected with three major ob-
jectives in mind in determining its extent:

ao To eliminate as many blocks of the worst blight in the Western Addi-
tion as possible under available financing »

b„ To facilitate the development of planned public improvements in the
Western Addition, including the Geary Street widening and the Community Center,

c. In a previously blighted area, to provide a well planned environment
attractive for private investment in new construction. To free it from adverse
effects from adjoining blight by extending and strengthening adjoining areas
which are attractive for investment.

The way these factors have guided delineation of the project area is out-
lined below.

a. First of all. Project Area Number One is blighted. As reported in
Section A, it includes many of the blocks of worst blight within the Western
Addition Redevelopment Area ,

b. The Geary Street widening project, as an integral part of the improve-
ment program, requires the inclusion, within the project area, of properties
fronting on both sides of Geary, This permits future development along its
margins to be properly related both to the expressway and to adjoining prop-
erties.

Taking of part of Hamilton playground for the Geary widening requires
that other nearby land be made available for community recreation. Therefore,
the project area includes sufficient land just south of Geary Street and ad-
jacent to Benjamin Franklin Junior High School (Girls High School) for develop-
ment of a new recreation center for the Western Addition Community.

The map (Part l) and the text (Part 2) constituting the Preliminary Plan
as adopted by the City Planning Commission are carried as the Appendix
to this report.

C-1

c. Because the land which can be redeveloped with the money available under
present arrangements with the Federal government is less than the entire area of
blight, the boundaries are drawn so as to minimize the effect which unreclaimed
adjoining blighted property might continue to exert on newly redeveloped areas.
The project area adjoins and extends areas characterized by sound and stable
development .

Whenever possible, new and well constructed structures, large public or
institutional uses, parks and playgrounds have been selected to serve as boundar-
ies. In instances in which it is impossible to avoid a blighted boundary area,
new commercial uses, parking areas and hotels rather than residential structures,
may be located at the boundaries „ Adjoining blight ordinarily does not dis-
courage commercial construction to the extent it may deter residential develop-
ment .

On the eastern border of the project area the redeveloped areas will
face a number of substantial existing apartment buildings on Franklin Street
and, nearby, Chancellery of St. Mary's Cathedral, Thus, the plan proposes to ex-
tend the redeveloped area sufficiently far so that the environment will then be
attractive for new investment,

A group of institutional buildings frame the southeast corner of the
project area, including Sacred Heart High School, the Family and Children's
Agency, and St. Paulus Lutheran church and school.

To the south, Jefferson Square and Margaret S. Hayward Playground form
a most effective buffer between the proposed new development and the old resi-
dential areas. The public housing development which will be built west of
Jefferson Square will eliminate the block and a half of unsightly housing which
now creates a depressing outlook there. The Glad Tidings Temple and residence
building, and the enlarged Eaphael Weill School site provide buffers between the
proposed new development and the blighted area along Webster Street.

The widening of Geary Street requires the acquisition of the strip of
land parcels (on the north side of the street )» Where the portions of these par-
cels not required for the street itself are to be devoted to residential develop-
ment and in blocks where dilapidated structures adjoin, entire block areas are
included within the boundary of the project. Examples of this are the two
blocks between Laguna and Gough Streets adjoining Geary Street on the north,
the two between Broderick and Scott Streets, and the one between Webster and
Buchanan Streets on the south side of Geary Street,

Only a narrow strip is included along Geary Street where the predominant
proposed uses are commercial or parking, as between Steiner and Webster Streets,
and along the north side in the two additional blocks from Webster to Laguna
Street. These all adjoin the community shopping center and should serve to
improve it.

The northwestern corner of the project area at Divisadero and Geary
Streets adjoins present blighted residential areas but is also contiguous to
the Mt. Zion Hospital group on Post Street, Between Geary and Post Streets east
of Divisadero the development will be commercial, medical, and similar. This
type of development should not be adversely affected by the condition of property
across Divisadero Street,

C-2

2o Principal Streets

The development of Geary Street, widened and improved to meet expressway
standards to carry east-west traffic through the Western Addition, and the con-
version of Franklin and Gough to one-way operation permit subordinating
parallel streets to local access purposes and closing some of them to traffic.
This specialization in the use of streets benefits automobile drivers through-
out the city as well as residents of the area. The modifications of the cir-
culation pattern are proposed to confom with accepted principles of land
organization and traffic flow. As previously described, virtually every street
in the Western Addition now carries through-traf f ic , the area acting as a broad
corridor to and from the downtown business district « The presence of heavy
traffic within the residential areas has been detrimental in terms of safety,
convenience, and livability.

The organization of the living areas into neighborhoods proposes instead,
that through-traf f ic be encouraged to use streets located between neighborhoods,
including Geary, Webster, and Divisaderoo The pattern of streets for automo-
biles and transit indicated in Plates 1 and 5 allows most children to go from
home to school or play, and shoppers to walk to the neighborhood stores, without
crossing heavy traf f ic o Because of differences in street width, and of signal-
ization, through- traffic is encouraged to take the major routes.

Within the neighborhoods, adjoining blocks are combined to form superblocks.
By such means former street areas for a distance of a block or two are made
available for planted quiet areas where people can meet and mothers can take
their babies, where small children can find wide spaces to play, without cross-
ing a street. Other portions are used for parking and walk- ways »

Where streets are closed utility easements will be maintained, together
with heavy-duty, hard- surface walks for access by emergency vehicles = The
elimination of traffic on these streets permits more flexible and efficient
land development in the superblocks, (with advantages for building described
in the section on residential standards), and also makes the open portions of
the street more efficient for local access and parking o

The widening and improving of Geary Street will permit the restriction of
traffic on 0 'Farrell and Ellis Streets which run parallel = They will be closed
in portions o In addition, Eddy Street is proposed for closing within the
Jefferson Square public housing area just outside the project,, Of the north-
south streets within the Geary area only Gough, Webster, Fillmore and Divisa-
dero Streets are to continue as through routes in their total length through the
area. Of these, Fillmore Street will continue to serve as the chief community
shopping and transit street, while the others will carry through-traf fic .

Under the plan, major transit routes linking the area with other sections
of the city will continue along Geary Street and along Divisadero and Fillmore
Streets, as at present o A local line providing service to the downtown
business center will traverse the area from east to west along streets between
Geary and McAllister.

The Preliminary Plan follows the Trafficways Plan in designating as prin-
cipal arterials for north- south through-traf fic Gough and Franklin as a one-
way pair in the east, Webster Street in the center, and Divisadero Street in
the western part of the project areao Other north-south streets provide local

C-3

access. To achieve expressway standards on Geary Street only a limited number
of north-south intersections are permitted. Generally, these require signal-
ized vehicular intersections, and other signalized crossing may be provided for
pedestrians only, at Laguna and Pierce Streets o Octavia Street is to be elimi-
nated as a traffic artery within the project area. Buchanan Street south of
O'Farrell is to be incorporated into the enlarged Eaphael Weill elementary
school site.

In conclusion, the layout of principal streets proposed in the Preliminary
Plan provides effective circulation for the project area and at the same time
leaves open spaces that will add to the amenities of livingo The area is well
served by primary, through streets connecting it with other parts of the city,
by local streets providing access to its residential and commercial sectors,
and by local and through transit lines furnishing direct service to the prin-
cipal city-wide working and shopping areas. In addition, it makes possible
the creation of large areas free of through-traf f ic and suitable for redevelop-
ment at high standards of safety, efficiency and livability^

3» Proposed Land Use,

The land use pattern for Project Area Number One closely follows the gen-
eral recommendations of the land use section of the master plan and the West-
ern Addition Community studies of the Department of City Planning. Table 1
on the following page compares the area at present in each land use with that
proposed by the Preliminary Plan. The table indicates that residential use is
proposed to continue as the predominant use and shows that the other principal
types of land use also have not been materially changed in extent. Provision
is made for needed public improvements including the Geary Street widening,
the Raphael Weill school expansion, the community center development, and for
commercial uses. The development is accommodated by using vacant parcels,
eliminating undesirable industrial uses, and principally by effective use of
existing street areas not required under the proposed improved circulation
plan.

a , Residential Areas

The close-in location of the project area in relation to the down-
town business center and its proximity to good transportation facilities in-
dicate that the area, when redeveloped, will be highly desirable for residential
use for families of all sizes but especially for small families and single per-
sons. As the primary residential need will be of this character the predom-
inant type of dwelling unit will be of small size.

The residential area of highest density within the project area
(Class M-5, permitting multi-story apartment buildings) is confined to the
hilltop area around the intersection of Geary and Gough Streets. This areas
has the advantages of close-in location, proximity to transportation, and a
fine outlook. A total of 11. 5 acres are made available for this type of resi-
dential structure. The proper arrangement of buildings and open space, as
described in the section on residential standards, will assure a desirable
urban living environment for persons preferring apartment-house living.

An area for multi-family structures of limited height is proposed south
and west of the highest density area, as shown on the plan. The location of

C-i^

Table 1

USE OF LAND IN PEOJECT AREA NUMBER ONE, WESTERN ADDITION

(in Acres)

At Present Proposed

Gross Area, Including Streets

99

99.2

Total Net Area,^ Excluding Streets

66,1

Eesidential

39

36o2

At M-k Standards

(24.7)

At M-5 Standards

(ll«5)

Commercial

10

lO.k

General Commercial

( o9)

Community Shopping

( 3.7)

Neighborhood Shopping

( l«3)

Office, Laboratory,

and Professional

( h.^)

Institutional

3

Public

9

15„0

Industrial

3

OoO

Vacant

^_

3

OoO

Existing Land Use in San Francisco

- 19^+8

(Planning

Monograph Number 10, San Francisco Department of City
Planning, 1951)^ and block cards from 19^8 survey.

C-5

lower buildings on these sloping sites prevents blocking of the views from the
hilltop. A total of 2J+.7 acres is proposed for limited height buildings on
the slopes and in the area west of Scott Street. Building types will be
three-story walkup apartments, two=story income properties, and groups of
single=family row houses for rento Families with children could be well ac-
commodated in this type of residential area which maintains higher living
space standards for each family, and which is more closely related to school
and playground areas.

The proposed residential areas allow for the development of a well
integrated site design which will do much to enhance the desirability of
these areas for residential development. The elimination of certain unneces-
sary streets and their conversion to malls and open spaces, principally in
the higher density areas, provides for a more efficient utilization of land,
a more effective and integrated design, and an enhanced living environment.

b . Commercial Areas

Commercial areas within the project area are divided into four
categories depending upon the general type of activityo Studies of the area
required for neighborhood shops have indicated little change in total area,
reflecting the expected increase in purchasing power on the one hand, and
more efficient use of store space on the other. Two neighborhood centers
are proposed for the eastern portion of the project area. One of these, of
approximately 25,000 square feet, is at Gough and 0 'Farrell Streets at the
center of the hilltop residential area, while a second neighborhood shopping
center of approximately equal size at Ellis and Laguna Streets serves the
M^k residential and public housing areas at a lower elevation »

The location and character of the upper site permits residential
use above the ground floor shops „ Customers will be concentrated around it
at high residential densities, somewhere between I90 and 250 persons per acre.
Stores here will serve two and three-person families and single persons,
probably will stress apartment delivery service, and will cater to the walk-
in trade,, Because Gough Street is one way it cannot be anticipated that
much vehicular trade from the area south of the neighborhood will be attract-
ed here. Parking space for between 20 and 25 cars is called for and will be
adequate for a neighborhood shopping center in such a location »

Suitably located here would be a grocery, meat market, delicatessen,
bakery, and restaurant, and some service shops such as cleaning and laundry
pickup, shoe repair, barber, and beauty shops, together with some other
miscellaneous shops. Some doctors' and dentists' offices could well be
located here, probably on floors over stores or on the ground floor of apart-
ment buildings „

The neighborhood shops at the downhill location at Laguna and Ellis
Streets will be part of a neighborhood center, where there is also space for
the Eaphael Weill elementary school with its enrollment of 60O to 700 pupils,
and for a church and nursery school or other neighborhood facilities. The
residents of the superblocks along Ellis and 0 'Farrell Streets will have easy
access to the center, which will also be convenient for passengers on the
local transit line which will have a stop adjoining the center. Stores suit-
able to such a center, catering to family needs, include a market, a drug
store, a housewares or hardware store, and such personal service shops as

C-6

barber^ beauty, and cleaning pickup , A soda fountain or restaurant can be
anticipated,

^^JSire project area also includes portions of the community shopping
centel*, and cityvide commercial districts. The Fillmore-Geary intersection
is a part of the larger Fillmore shopping center and the commercial core of
the Western Addition, Space will be provided for new stores along Geary
Street in the blocks adjoining Fillmore, Other commercial sites will be
closely tied in with the commercial center at Post and Buchanan Streets, which
contains a number of stores specializing in Japanese goods; and the block
north of Geary between Gough and Franklin Streets is tied to the Van Ness
Avenue commercial development.

Inclusion of the narrow strip of land on the south side of Geary
near Fillmore makes possible clearance and redevelopment of those parcels on
Geary Street which are blighted, but does not require the acquisition and
clearance of all existing structures. The proper development of the strip
can provide needed parking facilities, service and pedestrian access to the
new and existing commercial properties, and effectively serve as a buffer
between the expressway and neighboring residential areas.

Special types of use (office, laboratory and professional buildings)
have been given two full blocks and a fraction of another, where the loca-
tion is suitable for commercial uses of city-wide character. Because of its
easily reached central location and existing development, the Geary area has
several such sites, especially suitable for office buildings associated with
the administration of professional, publishing, insurance and related acti-
vities, medical laboratories and clinics, and cultural and educational insti=
tut ions ,

Ce Public Uses

Fifteen acres of public facilities are shown within the project area,
a net increase of six acres. Girls High School is being converted to a
junior high school on an extended site. The School District has acquired
land just east of the school along Geary Street, is constructing a gymnasium
for boys there, and plans to provide a cafeteria. In addition, just outside
the project area on the south there is shown a proposed further extension of
the school playground to provide space for Softball and field sports suitable
for a junior high school physical education curriculum, O'Farrell Street
would be closed to traffic in these blocks to enlarge the area and to Improve
access to and from the school. The facilities would be available to the rest
of the community after school hours.

The second major facility proposed along Geary Street between Steiner
and Scott Streets is a recreation center, to include a swimming pool, audi-
torium, and clubrooms. A conflict between heavy traffic and the various re-
creation requirements has led to reconsideration of plans for this area.
The new plans here proposed for the center should be an improvement on the
original plan.

Originally the center was proposed for the eastern portion of
Hamilton Playground, and in the. improvements currently being made to the
playground surface the eastern portion is being developed only for open use,
permitting conversion to non-recreational use without abandoning costly

C-7

improvements „ But the Geary Street widening also will take land from the
playground, and a strip of the playground along Geary Street also is being
developed for only temporary usoo The widening would take almost an acre and
a half from the ^ok acre area, and if the buildings were to be placed in the
eastern half of the playground would occupy a large part of the two acres
left there ,

Instead of placing the new facilities in such a constricted area
it is proposed that a site be acquired south of Geary Street adjacent to the
extended junior high school, and that the major recreational facilities be
located there. This location will make them more easily accessible to the
principal concentrations of population in the Western Addition and permit use
of the swimming pool during school hours, looking toward an objective of the
Board of Education that graduates of junior high schools should know how to
swimo The grouping of School-operated and Eecreation-operated facilities
side by side will make possible much more rounded programs for each, and will
make unnecessary constant crossings of a widened Geary Street by school
children going to and from the pool.

The plan provides for a net increase of 2ok acres for public re-
creation facilities at the community center within the project » The entire
recreation center is included in the project area since redevelopment powers
may be required in arranging the series of land transfers needed so that con-
stiniction of the center and the widening of Geary Street, both of which have
already been proposed as part of the Capital Improvement Program, can be
accomplished., The proposed extension of the junior high school playground
is not included in the project area since it is a project which can be handled
directly by the School District without participation by the Redevelopment
Agency.

Extension of the cramped site of the Raphael Weill elementary
school at Buchanan and Ellis Streets is proposed across these two streets,
which would be closed to traffic o This and the inclusion of additional
land, will increase the area of the site now serving between 600 and 70C
children from a substandard 1„3 acres to three acres, the recommended mini-
mum size of San Francisco elementary school sites.

A new fire station is proposed just off the Geary Street Express-
way on Webster Street. A new fire station will be required with the demoli-
tion of two very old ones in the project area. One of the old structures
will have to give way for the widening of Geary Street between Divisadero
and Broderick Streets, and the other, on Ellis Street between Octavia and
Gough Streets, would be inappropriate in the midst of new residential
development. The proposed location will put the fire equipment in the best
possible location for quick response to a wide area, via Geary Street and
Webster Street itself, which is eventually to be widened south of Geary
Street to major thoroughfare standards.

h. Residential Development Standards

The development standards for the redevelopment of Project Area Num-
ber One are intended as guides to the development of a desirable living
environment assuring essential amenities for each dwelling unit.

C-8

The pattern of blight in the Western Addition includes the serious over-
crowding of structures with inadequate sanitary and cooking facilities and
lacking access to sufficient light and air. As described previously^ the
traditional pattern of development^ based upon the uniform gridiron arrange-
ment of rectangular blocks, has established the long narrow 25' x 137=5'
lot, with the long dimension running north and south, as the basic unit of
property ownership « This has been a restriction upon design and, with con-
tinued conversion, has resulted in. a living environment with the specific
disadvantages previously described. One of the undesirable results of crowd-
ing more and more families into buildings on narrow lots has been a serious
deficiency of light and air^ According to the 1951 survey of housing condi-
tions kO per cent of the residential structures in the Jefferson Square Area
possessed substantial to extreme daylight obstruction; in each of these
buildings a majority of the rooms required the use of electric lights on a
clear dayo Daylight deficiencies in these areas are equalled by inadequate
access to sunlight. As most of the deep lots ruji north and south, many
dwelling units have windows only on the north and receive no direct sunlight,
while others face on narrow "light courts" „ The Preliminary Plan proposes
better spacing, coverage, height and bulk standards and assumes a more
efficient lot pattern when the area is resubdividedo

The objective of good site design is the provision of essential amen-
ities for all dwelling units. These amenities include privacy, adequate
natural light and ventilation, a pleasant outlook, safe and quiet areas of
sufficient size for outdoor living in pleasant surroundings remote from
traffic, safe and convenient access to each dwelling and to neighborhood
facilities, and adequate nearby parking facilities o

Formulation of standards to guide development toward these objectives
has required study of well established environmental standards and their
application to local conditions. Studies were made of San Francisco's
building and planning codes, the Federal Housing Administration's minimum
property requirements, environmental studies of the American Public Health
Association, and recent experience in the design of new residential con-
struction in San Francisco and elsewhere.

Consideration of these as they would apply in the Western Addition
after reconstruction has resulted in the following standards which have been
followed in the suggested site development scheme shown in Plate 1 and in
the building types illustrated in Plates 2, 3 and ko

a. Building Spacing and Height. All structures in M-^ (medium popu-
lation density) residential areas on the slopes are restricted to a maximum
height of ^0 feet (generally three stories above garages). This limit is
meant to preserve the outlook from the buildings on the hilltops, and is
the present height limit in several other parts of San Francisco as well as
the building code limit for occupancy of frame structures. It is in accord
with the zoning proposals now being considered by the City Planning Com-
mission,

In determining adequate spacing between buildings consideration
was given to the need for. as great a space between facing windows as be-
tween those which face across most San Francisco Streets. FHA standards,
and recent large residential developments in San Francisco also were care-
fully studied. The conclusion of these studies is that, within the project

C-9

Plate 2

AECHITECT'S PEESPECTITE SKETCH OF SUGGESTED
TALL BUILDINGS

This sketch shows some of the types of
tall apartment buildings which might be con-
structed;; under the Plan, in the "M-5" or
high density area which is at the top of the
hill on either side of Geary Street from
Octavia Street to Gough Street «

In this area there is room for a limited
number of apartment buildings providing small
apartments convenient to transportation,
shopping, and the downtown area,, A small
shopping center with space for professional
offices above the stores is a focal point for
this area, as indicated in Plate 1,

Cars are conveniently parked within some
of the buildings and in nearby garage compounds
and parking bays. The outlook from the tall
buildings is preserved by limiting to ^0 feet
the height of buildings on the surrounding
slopes. Privacy within the dwellings and out-
look between the buildings is protected by the
requirement that at least one side of every
apartment be at least 6o feet away from any
other building of three or more stories »

C-10

rchitecfs j>ersj>ective sketch ^ suggested TALL BUILDINGS

PLATE

area, there be a distance between at least one side of each dwelling unit and
the nearest facing building of at least hO feet for two- story buildings and
60 feet for taller buildings „ These are considered minimum standards for
privacy and daylight »

b. Building Coverage o To maintain open space for light, air, outlook,
and outdoor living it is proposed to restrict the area covered by buildings
including garages on each parcel to 50^ of the total land area of the parcel,

c. Usable open space. The need for accessible open space for each
family in residential areas of high density requires that there be open space
available in each block or superblock, and that each dwelling unit have usable
open space across its own threshold or otherwise easily accessible, in the
form of ground space, balcony, or roof terrace. It is recommended that, in
later stages of planning, procedures be established to assure that usable open
space is emphasized in the plans of individual dwelling units, and that
larger areas of usable open space be available in each block and superblock.
Probably not less than 25 per cent of the block or superblock should be in
this form,

do Parking, Recognition of the importance of the automobile in the
urban environment demands provision of adequate parking facilities for all
dwelling units. Surveys conducted in San Francisco in 1951 showed that 85
per cent or more of the occupants of new apartments desire to rent a garage.
Because of the convenience of nearby transit and the area's close proximity
to the downtown area the ratio of parking spaces to dwelling units can be
lessened somewhat in the Western Addition, Accordingly, while the Prelim-
inary Plan recotnmends as a standard that as many parkirig spaces be provided
as dwelling units, only two-thirds of these need be under cover,

e. Population Densities and Building Intensities,

The California Redevelopment Law requires that the Preliminary Plan
state the population densities and building intensities proposed as the basis
for redevelopment. These are shown in Table 2:

Table 2

POPQIATION DENSITIES & BUILDING INTENSITIES
FOR PROJECT AREA NUMBER ONE^ WESTERN ADDITION

Residential
Classification

M-5

Building Intensit;;
(Minimum Lot Area
per Room)

200 square feet
150 square feet

Population Density
(Approximate Range ,
Persons per Net Acre)

70 to 180

190 to 250

Under provisions of the zoning proposals a redevelopment project area
can be accorded the status of a Planned Unit Development which would allow
certain standards to be exceeded if others are more than adequately met.

C-12

Residential development -which will meet the standards stated above for
height, spacing and coverage of buildings, and for parking of cars, generally
will not have an excessive "building intensity" or "population density" under
the limits shown. For instance, the residential development shown in Plate 1
and shown in perspective in Plates 2, 3^ and k meets the general standards of
intensity and density as well as the specific minimum standards governing
buildings and parking. But building designs which do no more than barely
meet each one of the minimum standards will generally not meet the require-
ments governing intensity and density.

^. Suggested Site Development. The suggested site development shown in

Plates 1 through k is at once a test of the standards and intensity and
density requirements, and a set of suggestions for actual development. The
requirements shown in the official Preliminary Plan (the Appendix) were not
formulated until it was clear that they permitted development which would be
economically and visually successful.

The Preliminary Plan calls for the preservation of the rectilinear
street system, although it overcomes the objections to the "gridiron" type
of rectilinear system. This is economical and also sets a meaningful
pattern. Within the blocks, the question arises whether to follow a new
approach in the spacing and arrangement of lots and buildings. Provision
was made for varying density and building types, from the taller buildings
in the hilltop blocks, to the lower ones on the slopes.

In general, the less an area is cut up the easier it is to adapt
it to the requirements of large, tall buildings. The large buildings
shown in Plate 2, together with garage areas, can be accommodated easily
in the large areas assembled by closing streets and alleys. The extra
value of such large areas shows up in what appraisers call "plottage"
and in the living qualities of a large area free of traffic.

On the hilltop in the vicinity of Octavia and Geary Streets there
are all the factors of outlook, accessibility and convenience which en-
courage 'high-density development. Densities as high as 250 persons per
net acre can be achieved under the standards with buildings of 6 and 13
stories, as shown in Plate 2,

Infonned opinion differs greatly on the extent of the immediate
market for tall buildings, some extremists insisting that all near-in
locations should be built to house more people than ever before, while
others argue that successful financing of tall buildings is rare, especial-
ly when compared with the active market for lighter frame, less costly,
walk-up apartments.

After consultation with informed real estate specialists, and after
consideration of a sample survey of consumer opinion, the area available
for high density apartments in the project was limited so that such con-
struction, along with any other high buildings likely to be built in San
Francisco in the next five years, would not exceed the usual proportion

C-13

Plate 3

ARCHITECT'S PEESPECTIVE SKETCH OF SUGGESTED
MEDIUM HEIGHT BUILDINGS

This Plate shows how a typical Western
Addition block can be developed for walk-up
apartments and flats,. The spacious court and
enclosed gardens shown would be provided where
development follows the "four-finger" pattern
illustrated in several blocks, Plate 1,

In Plate 1 the apartment buildings are
shown on deep lots running back from mid-block
street frontages „ The smaller buildings with
four to six flats are built along the other
street frontages, enclosing the block on the
windward sides.

The courts which run between apartment
buildings or between apartments and rows of
flats, provide as much space for light and
air as would be available if a street ran be-
tween the buildings, but instead of carrying
traffic the area is planted and available for
recreationo Every flat and apartment receives
direct sunlight and has an outlook on a court o

There is space on the ground floor of
these buildings, which are located on sloping
ground, to park at least two thirds as many
cars as there are dwelling imits„ Other park-
ing space is available for guest parkingo

C-lk

Architect's perspective sketch of suggested
MEDIUM — HEIGHT BUILDINGS

built during a five year period in San Francisco.* The proposed proportion of
apartments in large apartment houses is greater, according to the survey, than
the proportion of San Franciscans living in new housing who prefer large,
tall buildings. Just under Uo per cent of the population "holding capacity
of the project area might be housed in the larger buildings. This is about
equal to the present proportion living in the Western Addition in apartment
houses of ten or more dwellings »

In the plan, the sites for tall buildings permit them to be grouped
conveniently aroiand the small neighborhood shopping center on the top of the
hill. Cars are parked within some of the buildings, in garage compounds, and
in parking bays, along the street.

The site development shown in Plate 1 incorporates several solutions
of the block development problem raised where medium height buildings are to
be constructed. Among the medium density types are the medium height build-
ings shown in Plate 3 and the low buildings shown in Plate ko

The primary site requirement for large, tall buildings is a large
amount of space. The medium height and low buildings raise different prob-
lems. One of their basic advantages is the smaller investment required and
thus the opportunity for wider participation by investors with limited re-
sources. But their smaller size makes it difficult for the two, three or
four-family flat to utilize efficiently the central part of a block. The
four-finger plan shown for a number of blocks in Plate 1 presents one type
of solution. The official Preliminary Plan (in the Appendix) does not show
the detailed layout within the blocks. That is subject to further study by
Eedevelopment Agency, but is indicated in Plate 1,

All along three of the four block frontages there are shown small
buildings having no more than six flats apiece , These enclose the block on
three sides. Walk-up apartments are built on deep lots running from mid-
block frontages on the fourth side.

Within the block are left spacious courts, between walk-up apart-
ment buildings and between them and the rows of flats. These courts are at
least 6o feet wide, to meet the standards in the Preliminary Plan. Within
the courts a portion may be set aside as private open gardens for the occu-
pants of the flats. Under the four-finger plan every dwelling unit receives
direct sunlight and has an outlook on a coiirt,

Plate 1 shows that under the four- finger block plan, flats occupy-
ing lots as small as the city's minimum of 2,6k0 square feet can be accom-
modated, together with the larger lots for walk-up apartment buildings. In
both these types of buildings cars can be garaged on the groimd floor.
Because of the sloping ground some of the buildings may rise as high as
three stories over the garage floor and still require a climb of only two
flights above the entrance on the uphill side of the building,

^ Eeported in Preliminary Eeport Showing Results of Surveys to be Used in a
Subsequent Report on "The Market for Housing in San Francisco: Its Rela-
tion to Redevelopment." (Available at office of Department of City Plan-
ning) The survey covering 1200 families was planned by the Redevelopment
Agency and Department of City Planning and the interviews were conducted
and the preliminary tabulations proposed by the Western Research Institute.
The survey results are available in the office of the Department of City
Planning,

C-l6

The block plan is greatly improved where two or more blocks are combin-
ed in superblocks, giving to still more of the dwellings the benefit of a loca-
tion on quiet^ partially enclosed courts „ In the cases where four blocks are
united into one superblock it is necessary to re- introduce driveways or even
short streets for access, but these are designed to discourage through-traf f ic o

The buildings shown in Plate 3 for the U-k area achieve a density of
1^5 persons per acre, a remarkably high figure for walkup apartments with so
many amenities » It is possible that even somewhat higher densities may be
achieved in frame walk-up apartment buildings without sacrifice of standards o
At the same time, experience has shown that at least some of the owners will
develop their land at densities less than the maximum of l80 permitted.

The minimum density of 70 persons per acre would be reached with a
development of small structures as illustrated in Plate These might be
clustered near Eaphael Weill school. While only the Metropolitan Life Insur-
ance Company has built this type of development on a large scale in San
Francisco (in the original development at Parkmerced, constructed 19^1-19^3) >
others have shown an interest in ito It is essentially a row house development
in which the individual houses are made available for rent. Plate 1 shows in
one block a large-scale development of 35 units and in another, seven lots 65
feet wide and of varying depth with four to six houses each.

The small "income properties" of four to six units may prove to be
especially popular with people who wish to live in one and rent out the
others. Construction of a development at 25 to 50 units, such as the one
shown, might be particularly appropriate for financing as a cooperative, pos-
sibly under the liberal mortgage insurance provisions available to such
developments from the Federal Housing Administration »

The rental row houses are planned for family living o They are shown
in (or across the local street from) the superblock which hugs the base of
the hill and includes Eaphael Weill School, Jefferson Square, and the neigh-
borhood shopping center. The houses are assumed to have three bedrooms.
Most are- shown as having gardens facing in a southerly direction to catch
the sun. The grouping of the buildings and the garden walls assume wind
protection. The small gardens, scaled to San Francisco living, are supple-
mented by park-like areas which might be maintained by an association of the
property owners in the blocks. Garage space is shown as available at the
front of some lots, and under those buildings which are on a slope.

6„ Population to be Housed.

While the environment in the 26-block project area will be very dif-
ferent after redevelopment, the number of people housed may not be greatly
different. Table 3 which follows indicates the estimated existing population
and the proposed population holding capacity for the project area under the
Preliminary Plan, as well as for the adjoining new public housing developments.

Population hblding capacity is the maximum number of persons who can re-
side in the project area at the maximum density permitted under the standards.
The holding capacity achieved by providing the varying types of dwellings
shown in Plate 1 is somewhat less. The latter is not meant to achieve maxi-
mum density of population permitted under the standards. Rather, it is

C-17

Table 3

POPULATION HOLDING CAPACITY UNDER PRELIMINAEY PLAN
And Illustrated In Plate 1

At Present

Population, Redevelopment Project Area
Population Holding Capacity under the

Preliminary Plan 8,000
Population Holding Capacity Illustrated

in Plate 1* 8,000

Proposed

7,370

6,000

Population, Project Area plus Public Housing

Holding capacity under the Preliminary Plan

Population Holding Capacity Illustrated
in Plate 1*

8,800

8,800

9,370

8,000

Average Density of Population in Residential
Area of Project

In Entire Residential Area of Project
M-^ Area
M-5 Area

20k l66
70 to 1.80
190 to 250

* The site development shown in Plate 1 is designed to illustrate a
variety of building types fully meeting the minimum standards set
forth in the Redevelopment Plan; no attempt has been made in it to
show the maximum development permitted under the standards; for
this reason the population holding capacity of the buildings in
Plate 1 is less than that in the Preliminary Plan itself

C-18

designed to test the Plan and to indicate some of the variety in building
types which meet the requirements of the Plan. The proposed low rent public
housing projects and the redevelopment project areas, taken together, will
provide space sufficient to house 9^300 people under the standards proposed.
The suggested site development shown in Plate 1 indicates how as many as
8,000 can be accommodated in the same projects, well within the standards.
(Note that the one population figure is only 500 above, the other only 800
below the present population). The actual population will of course depend
on the types of privately financed building actually built within the
density range proposed and the intensity of occupancy in those buildings c

The Preliminary Plan permits a density of population about the same
as at present but introduces a superior development pattern. The plan
makes possible a population density in keeping with the advantages of the
highly desirable central site, and at the same time provides needed public
improvements to serve the community and the entire city.

7. Commercial Development Standards.

Building intensities proposed for commercial areas are those suitable
for facilities serving the desired functions, with adequate provision for
off-street parking. The following standards are established in the Plan:

Table k

STANDAEDS FOR COMMERCIAL AREAS

Minimum Lot Area
In Sq^iare Feet

Floor Area Ratio

Parking Spaces per
Square Foot of
Floor Space

General Community

Commercial Shopping

26k0 26k0

5 to 1 3.6 to 1

1 to 1000 1 to 500

Office;
Neighborhood Laboratory

Shopping

2640
2 A to 1

1 to 500

and Professional

22,000
2 A to 1

1 to 300

Appropriate standards are set for each of the four types of commercial
area. Minimum lot areas are established, in no case less than the minimum
of 2,6^0 square feet adopted by the Board of Supervisors. Large lot areas
are required where it is desirable to have large, unified developments.
"Floor area ratios" are established to control the bulk of building placed on
each site, so that buildings will not deprive their neighbors of light, air,
and uncongested street access. The floor area ratios are those proposed as
part of the comprehensive zoning amendment now being considered.

C-19

Plate k

AECHITECT'S PERSPECTIVE SKETCH OF SUGGESTED
LOW BUILDINGS

Plate k shows small houses, each vith its
private garden, built in short rows of four to
six dwellings. These are shown in plan, in
Plate 1, near the Raphael Weill Elementary-
School and convenient to a neighborhood shop-
ping center.

Gardens are shown facing in a southerly
direction to catch the sun. Grouping of the
houses and rows and the arrangement of garden
walls provide wind protection and privacy. The
small gardens, which are scaled to San Fran-
cisco living, are supplemented by larger open
spaces .

The lots illustrated in the Plate are 65
by 130 feet, providing a dwelling for the owner
and four x>r five units for rent, with a garage
at the street frontage for residents' cars.

Another possible arrangement of these "rental
row" houses is shown in Plate 1 in an area on the
other side of O'Farrell Street. This arrangement
illustrates a way of grouping a number of such
houses aroiond a courtyard. In this type of devel-
opment the residents would all rent from one owner
or would own an interest in a cooperative.

C-20

Architect's j>erspective sketch of suggested £0W BUILDINGS

A sufficient number of parking spaces are required for each lot so that
owners of neighboring properties will not be deprived of offstreet or on-
street parking space for their customers c The standard governing the mini-
mum number of parking spaces for a given floor area varies with the type of
commercial development. The standard is set high for "office^ laboratory,
and professional" buildings which seek a location within the project partly
because they need more parking space than they believe they can afford
further downtown. The standard is one parking space for every 3OO square
feet of floor area in the buildings. Since each parking space takes up
about 250 square feet, and since almost as much additional must be provided
for truck loading, landscaping and walks, this requires more land in open
space than is used for buildings.

In the neighborhood and community shopping districts, also, it is im-
portant that there be sufficient parking spaces. The requirement of one
parking space for every 500 square feet of floor space generally means
that one story commercial development can be built on not much more than
half the land, the rest being used for parking, truck loading, landscaping,
etc ,

To the extent that higher buildings with more floor space are construct-
ed in these areas more land is to be devoted to parking, or parking is to
be provided inside or on the roofs of buildings. These standards conform
with up-to-date practice in San Francisco (which has been studied and made
the basis for these standards).

"General commercial" developments are largely wholesale and automotive
businesses, and less of the floor space tends to be used by customers,
more for storage of bulky auto parts and vehicles themselves, as stock-in-
trade. Based on experience in such areas a reasonable minimum standard is
one parking space (not including vehicles as stock in trade) for every
1,000 feet of floor space.

The standards for the fourth type of Commercial development--of f ice,
laboratory, and prof essional--are set to make them attractive for certain
types of enterprises requiring rather large sites. These have sometimes
found San Francisco a difficult place in which to locate. San Francisco
attracts to its central financial and shopping districts activities which
require especially convenient access to many other establishments. There
are also activities for which a San Francisco address is valuable and for
which easy access downtown is essential, but for whom downtown ground rents
are too high. Because these activities need more area for customer parking
than they can afford downtown, a location is preferable a mile or so nearer
the center of residential population, or, in the case of medical buildings,
a location is needed which is central with respect to the city's hospitals
as well as to the resident population.

Eecent experience in the Bay Area has emphasized extreme situations
where locations not even served by rapid transit have attracted important
economic activities. In these, land is available only in large parcels,
and each establishment is assured that every other one will provide fully
for its own parking need {and thus not congest the streets or one another's
off-street parking facilities), and that the appearance of the area will
be protected.

C=-22

While not proposing that a minimum size of two acres be required of each
site, as in some of these outlying areas, the Plan for the Geary Area is in-
tended to preserve the office, laboratory, and professional district for
development which will occupy a site at least as large as the frontage on the
narrow end of a block. For this purpose a minimum area of 22,000 square feet
is proposed. The ratio of floor area to lot area is held to 2.h to one.
Parking space is assured by the requirement of one stall for every 3OO square
feet of floor space, which should appeal especially to establishments desir-
ing to provide free parking for their patrons and employees but not wishing
such facilities to be congested by others.

8. Conformity With the Master Plan

The proposed redevelopment of Project Area Number One conforms to the
Master Plan of San Francisco o The distribution of land uses proposed by the
Preliminary Plan (see Plate l) follows the broad recommendations for this
area in the land use section of the Master Plan.. It also accords with the
City Planning Commission's reports finding individual public projects in
conformity with the Master Plan, The widening and expressway treatment of
Geary Street is an intrinsic element of the adopted city-wide Trafficways
Plan, another major portion of the Master Plan, Other features of the
Trafficways Plan with which the Preliminary Plan has been kept in confonnity
are the indication of Divisadero and Webster Streets as major north- south
thoroughfares. Designation of Gough and Franklin Streets as a pair of one-
way streets is in conformity with the recommendations of the One-Way Street
Plan, adopted as part of the Master Plan, This has already been put into
effect.

In addition to the above major considerations, other proposals of the
Preliminary Plan are also in conformity with the Master Plan and with
proposals listed in the Capital Improvement Program. Thus, the principle
of expansion of recreational and educational land uses in the Western Addi=
tion exemplified by proposals for enlarged recreation and school sites, is
part of the land use section of the Master Plan, The conversion of Girls'
High School to Benjamin Franklin Junior High School on an extended site and
the expansion of recreational facilities in the Hamilton Playground area
are both listed in the Capital Improvement Program.

The rebuilding program is, then, fully in conformity with the Master

Plan .

C-23

D. FUETHEE fflTEOTEMEWT OF THE GEAEY AEEA

1. Relation of Project to Geary Area

Widening of Geary Street, modernization of the local street pattern, and
reconstruction of 80 per cent of the existing buildings in a 26-block adjoining
area (including the development of a Community Center and the rebuilding of the
whole hillside between Geary Street and Jefferson Square) constitute a really
large combined program.

The provisions of the State Community Redevelopment Law are essential to
this program, even though there are funds available for building several of the
individual projects. The Redevelopment Law makes it possible to vest land
ownership in a public agency while the street pattern is being modernized, and
the Law also makes possible the reassembly of the resulting land fragments into
parcels of appropriate size and shape to attract new development. Federal legis=
lation makes the California law an immediately useful means for rebuilding
blighted areas by providing financial aids which permit the Redevelopment Agency
to absorb the difference between the combined cost of land and building and the
sale price of land after the deteriorated buildings have been demolished.

Now that the Planning Commission has formulated the Preliminary Redevelop-
ment Plan, the Redevelopment Agency can further develop the program as required
by law for submission to the Board of Supervisors » Under the California Com-
munity Redevelopment Law, the following steps are called for:

a. Presentation to the Board of Supervisors of the "Tentative Plan" by
the Redevelopment Agency, The Tentative Plan is based upon the Pre-
liminary Plan incorporated in the present report. Under the Law a
financial analysis must be made, including a statement of rent ranges
indicating the general character of the development. The Agency holds

' one or more public hearings on the Plan. Modifications may be made in
the Preliminary Plan and alternative plans may be considered. Provi-
sion is made for review by the City Planning Commission of changes and
alternative plans » (Community Redevelopment Law 3356o) .

b. Adoption of the Plan by the Board of Supervisors after an additional
hearing o Alternative plans may be considered. (Community Redevelop-
ment Law 33561).

c. Formulation by the Redevelopment Agency of the Final Plan, including
provisions for participation in the Plan by owners of property in the
project area. (Community Redevelopment Law 33700).

d. Adoption of the Final Plan by the Board of Supervisors after consider-
ation of alternative plans; after considering the evidence and testi-
mony; and after finding that adequate permanent housing facilities
will be available (and that pending development of such facilities
there will be adequate temporary housing facilities at rents comparable
to those in the community at the time of displacement). (Community
Redevelopment Law 33730 - 337^6),

D-1

Provision is made for review by the Department of City Planning to coor-
dinate the program with the Master Plan and the plans of other agencies. Provi-
sion is also made for frequent consultation with property owners to encourage
their participation. Various financial safeguards are required under the Law
at the time the Board of Supervisors adopt the Final Plan.

Other and additional procedures are required for the other departments
which have proposed improvements in the project area. Some of their projects
are just outside the Area but will also be effective in clearing blight and in
contributing to reconstructiono All the projects will make important contri-
butions to the rebuilding of the Geary Area* In addition^ such development may
be expected to start a "chain reaction" of further improvement as owners and
investors who were formerly discouraged see new opportunities. The areas so
affected can best be delineated by reference to the Project Area, and to the
nearby construction and reconstruction projects described below.

2. Construction and Beconstruction: Capital Improvements

(a) Schools. The School District is already clearing an area along Geary
Street next to Girls High School. This has been included in the project area
to cover the possibility that land transfers of some sort with the Department
of Public Works or with the Recreation and Park Department may be required.
However, that extension is only part of the extension required in the develop-
ment of a junior high school. In order to meet school playground standards
further extension of the school playground southward outside the project area
is provided for in long term plans for the Western Addition.

With the stabilization of the Western Addition as a place for fam.ilies
to live, the further extension of the playground will help to accommodate them
in a healthy environment. An additional blighted area will be cleared in the
process .

(b) Low-rent Public Housing. Another program which will clear blight in
the Geary Area but which, like the school extension, can be accomplished without
invoking the Redevelopment Law is the program of the San Francisco Housing
Authority. By law, the area acquired under the Redevelopment Law is not avail-
able for use as public low rent housing.

In the spring of 1951 the Board of Supervisors approved two sites for
public low=rent housing in the Western Addition, as shown in Plate 1. These
are located close by the project area. Like the extension of the junior high
school, they will clear blighted areas and will help to improve the Geary area.
The two sites are well related, in their respective neighborhoods, to schools,
playgrounds, parks, and transit routes. One of the proposed areas for public
housing, directly west of Jefferson Square, is adjacent to the proposed exten-
sion of Raphael Weill School and playground, to the proposed neighborhood
shopping center, nursery school, and church.

The second site is north of Turk Street and west of Pierce Street, direct-
ly south of the proposed extension of Benjamin Franklin Junior High School and
adjacent to but not fronting on Divisadero Street.

The two projects will cover a combined area of nearly eight acres. The Housing

D-2

Authority proposes the location of approximately 600 permanent low-rent dwell-
ing units housing about 2,00Q persons on these sites. In general, the build-
ings will be multi-story^ high density structures. They will also form a
portion of the buffer between new private development in Project Area Number
One and existing older neighborhoods to the south.

By providing housing for families with low income the public housing
projects will serve to maintain a broad population base in the Geary Area, and
will play a major role in rehousing persons displaced by redevelopment. Under
the law arrangements are made to give them preference in public housing,

3. Improvement Without Eeconstruction

Rehabilitation refers to the restoration of individual structures to meet
standards of livability in conformity with the State Housing Act and the muni-
cipal building code. It "is also the securing of sufficient land about a build-
ing to provide necessary amenities^ including access to light and air, private
open space, and parking facilities for each dwelling unit.

Rehabilitation is a most useful method of halting the continued deteriora-
tion of a neighborhood and of correcting deficiencies and trends which contri-
bute to decay. Generally, the blighting influences are similar to, although
less severe than, those in areas which require complete clearance and recon-
struction. Areas which can be rehabilitated usually possess a number of posi-
tive features 2 A majority of structures are in good or salvagable condition;
a relatively high proportion are owner- occupied; conversions within buildings
are not numerous; overcrowding of the land is not excessive and there are fairly
stable or new residential areas nearby.

In addition to structural deterioration, areas suitable for rehabilitation
may suffer from a scattering of small retail establishments in the first floor
or basement areas of residential buildings, inadequate amounts of public open
space, and an unsatisfactory street system, including an undifferentiated
street jiattern which fails to channel through-traffic on a few major streets.

Rehabilitation can employ the Redevelopment Law, with special emphasis on
local group participation by property holders, tenants and merchants. Re-
habilitation can be particularly useful in raising neighborhood standards in
areas which have not as yet become so blighted as to require complete clearance
and rebuilding.

The Project Area was carefully examined for opportunities to rehabilitate
rather than reconstruct. The most encouraging blocks were intensively studied
with this in mind. Practical necessities, however, limited the buildings to
be preserved to rather widely separated ones covering only 20 per cent of the
area.

While there are no entire blocks inside the Project Area where rehabilita-
tion would be more advantageous than reconstruction, there are blocks adjacent
to the Project Area in which rehabilitation can be an important part of further
improvement of the Geary area. The following comments concerning these blocks
are not part of the Preliminary Redevelopment Plan and are not advocated by
the City Planning Commission. The suggestions are made for consideration by
residents and merchants in the area, and by their organizations.

D-3

(a) The Dlvlsadero area. The area south of 0 'Farrell Street and between
the proposed school extension at Scott Street and the Anzavista development west
of Sto Joseph's Avenue (see Plate l) is Indicated as a possible area for future
rehabilitation. While the neighborhoods further east have deteriorated too far
to be rescued by anything less than thorough clearance and reconstruction^
blight has not as yet so thoroughly enveloped this area and its charm and
livability can be restored by measures less drastic^ and less expensive, than
complete clearance and reconstruction „ Preliminary study suggests, however,
that the Eedevelopment Law probably would have to be involved to accomplish
this, at least in some of the blocks o

The Divisadero Area includes portions of the two neighborhoods which
are located on either side of Divisadero Streets Wot all the area is badly
blighted, particularly in comparison with the project areao West of that
street, deterioration is mixed with examples of resourceful individual re-
habilitationo

Existing residential structures in the area are representative of all
periods since the 1870's, including large Victorian homes, small cottages^ and
multiple units dating from the 20's and 30's„ Buildings are not as crowded as
in areas to the east, and conversions to commercial use are generally restricted
to residences along Divisadero Streets

Further study of this area would produce more detailed recommendations
concerning desirable actiono Preliminary study, however, suggests the follow-
ing:

lo Eemoval of substandard structures and a few other buildings to
provide needed open space. More light and air would thus reach
remaining structures and the open space could be used as gardens
and tot lotSo

2o Closing or narrowing some of the streets to discourage through
traffic, and to make more space for tree planting and parking
bays, without interfering with access to existing garages or
with sub- surface utilities.,

3. Concentration of commercial development by removing or remodel-
ing deteriorated buildings containing stores,

4„ Enforcement of building code and fire regulations to prevent
shoddy and unsafe conversions,

5. Modernization of individual structures.

Public as well as private action probably would be required to accom=
plish any of the first four points. Number 5, however, might be done largely
or even wholly through private action. Public action on the first four would
stimulate private modernization and encourage owners in the area. At least one-
half of the structures are owner»occupied and there should be considerable
interest both in private remodeling and in other improvements.

Of course, even where public action is ultimately required, private
organizations such as neighborhood Improvement associations are essential in

encouraging owners to make improvements and in calling upon city departments and
others to take the necessary steps for the rehabilitation of the area.

The Divisadero area can pioneer in area rehabilitation in San Francisco,
in which experience can be gained by public agencies and home owners alike in
methods of protecting and improving older neighborhoods „ Such experience is
needed if the spread of blight in other parts of the city is to be arrested.

Rehabilitation of the Divisadero area may be one phase in rebuilding
the Western Addition, closely linked to the Preliminary Redevelopment Plan for
Project Area Number One and to the improvement of the Fillmore area. Completion
of these programs would broaden the band of good physical development across
the entire Western Addition from Anzavista to Van Ness Avenue.

(b ) The Fillmore Area . The area within a block or two on either side of
Fillmore Street (Plate 1, ) is the site of the Western Addition community
shopping center. On either side of Fillmore Street, to the rear of the shopping
district, is a considerable area of blighted residential structures, Futiire
improvement of the Fillmore area requires rebuilding these primarily residential
blocks as well as finding solutions leading to the desirable improvement of the
shopping district proper.

The Fillmore area includes portions of two neighborhoods bisected by
Webster Street. Perhaps in connection with future widening of Webster Street
some of the generally poor residential structures in this area could be re-
habilitated, some wholly rebuilt, using the Redevelopment Law,

A major problem facing the Fillmore shopping district is traffic and
transportation congestion. In large measure this is due to a lack of off-
street parking and loading facilities. The street area of Fillmore Street,
although presenting a bustling and busy appearance, is the site of continual
competition for space by automobiles, trucks, and transit vehicles. Pedestrians,
too, are inconvenienced by being required, at short intervals, to cross streets
carrying heavy east-west traffic. Off-street parking is greatly needed by
shoppers as well as by those attending church, or going to movies , bowling
alleys, and other places of entertainment, especially numerous in the area
between Geary and Eddy Streets,

A primary means of relieving traffic congestion on Fillmore Street is
the elimination of through-traff ic , It is proposed that Webster Street eventually
be widened to major thoroughfare standards as recommended by the approved Traffic-
ways Plan. When Webster Street is able to accommodate through-traff ic , Fillmore
Street will be more able to fulfill its commercial functions.

Off-street parking needs of the Fillmore shopping district deserve
careful study and are being discussed by Fillmore Street merchants. The clear-
ing of existing dilapidated structures in the rear of commercial buildings
fronting on Fillmore Street could provide sufficient truck loading and off-
street parking space, following the example of a few of the newest establish-
ments in the area .

The effective improvement of this portion of the Fillmore shopping
district involves the cooperative action of the merchants and the various

mimicipal agencies and departments concerned^ Redevelopment will not change
?^e o? FiJLore Street itself except at Geary Street, but should encourage
those most concerned with its continued prosperity-=.^the merchants-to improve
it, aided by public improvements properly made by the cityo

D-6

APPENDIX

e Preliminary P

Two Parts
Part I -- Map
Part II -- Text

AN FRANCISCO DEPABTMENT OF CITY PLANNING IN COOPERATION WITH THE RETDEVELOPMENT AGENCY

PART TWO

PRELIMINARY REDEVELOPMENT PLAN
PROJECT AREA NUMBER ONE
WESTERN ADDITION REDEVELOPMENT AREA

Under the California Community Redevelopment Law the preliminary
redevelopment plan must:

1) Describe the boundaries of the project area.

2) Contain a general statement of the land uses, layout of princi-
pal streets, population densities, building intensities and standards pro-
posed as the basis for the redevelopment of the project area,

3) Show how the purposes of the Act would be attained by the pro-
posed redevelopment o

k) Show how the proposed redevelopment plan conforms to the
master plan.

The Preliminary Redevelopment Plan consists of Part One (hereafter
referred to as "the map"), and Part Two (this text). The map is entitled
"Part One, Preliminary Redevelopment Plan, Project Area Number One, Western
Addition Redevelopment Area," and shows proposals within the project area.

1. Boundaries of the Project Area

The boundaries of the project area are sufficiently described in
Part One where they are shown by a bold dashed line. In more general terms,
the boundaries of the project area may be described as including areas re-
lated to Geary Street following its proposed widening across the Western
Addition, and the entire slope from Geary Street south to Jefferson Square.

The boundaries of the project area extend from a point 125 feet
west of Broderick Street to Franklin Street, and from Post Street to as far
south as Eddy Street between Gough ar_d Laguna Streets,

2 . General Statement

The map comprising Part One of this plan is a general representa-
tion of the basis proposed for the redevelopment. This basis may be ex-
plained and elaborated textually as follows:

a . Land Uses as Proposed

The types of land use shown on the map are classified as follows:

1) Residential? The residential land uses shown on the map in-
clude "M-k" and "M-5" types of residential development, including residen-
tial hotels. As noted on the map, certain areas shown for residential use
are also suitable for parking; or for office, laboratory or professional
types of commercial use.

Appendix i

2) Commercial: The commercial land uses include those developed
to serve neighborhood shopping; community shopping; office, laboratory and
professional purposes; and general commercial requirements,

3) Institutional: The institutional land uses include churches,
private and parochial schools, hospitals, and other charitable, religious,
educational, and cultural establishments »

k) Public : The public uses provided for include a junior high
school, converted on an extended site from an existing high school; com-
munity recreational facilities adjacent to the junior high school as part
of a community center development; an extended site for an existing
elementary school and its playground; and a fire station.

The land uses shown in Part One of this Plan approximate the
following number of net acres?

Residential 3^ acres

Commercial 10 "

Institutional 5 "

Public 15

b o Proposed Layout of Principal Streets

The layout of principal streets as shown in heavy solid lines
on the map and proposed as a basis for redevelopment, provides for greatly
increasing the capacity of Geary Street as an expressway meeting the gen-
eral requirements of the adopted Trafficways Piano This project was car-
ried in the 1951-52 to 1956-57 Capital Improvement Program. The other
east-west street shown in the project area provides means of access to
its residential, commercial and other development. Both these routes are
planned to carry transit as well as automobiles » The principal north=
south streets shown are: Franklin and Gough Streets, a pair of one-way
streets as designated in the adopted One-way Street Plan; Webster Street,
developed at standards as adopted in the Trafficways Plan; Fillmore Street;
and Divisadero Street o

The layout of principal streets provides for sufficient routes
for through- traffic, for access to the residential, commercial, and other
development in the project area, and for appropriate integration with the
street system of the surrounding area, and is meant to make possible the
creation of large areas free of through traffic and suitable for redevelop-
ment at high standards of safety, efficiency, and livability,,

c . Proposed Population Densities, Building Intensities and Standards

Population densities and building intensities proposed as a basis
for redevelopment for each of the two residential use classes are as
follows :

Classification Building Intensity Population Intensity

(Mino Lot Area per (Approx, Range of

Room) persons per Net Acre)

M-k 200 square feet 7O-I8O

M-5 150 square feet 190-250

Appendix ii

The residential building intensities proposed in this prelim-
inary plan for redevelopment are intended to meet modern development
standards for adequate lights sunlight, outlook, circulation, and privacy,
including:

1) A maximum of '^O'fo coverage of land hy all buildings o

2) A maximum height of kO feet for buildings in Vi-k areas »

3) As many parking spaces as dwelling units, two-thirds of
them under cover,

k) A minimum distance between one side of each dwelling
unit and the nearest facing building of ^0 feet for
buildings of two stories or less, and 6o feet for
buildings of more than 2 stories in height »

Building intensities proposed for commercial areas are those
suitable for facilities serving the desired functions, with adequate
provision for off-street parking, and are based on the following
standards :

Minimum Lot Area
in Square Feet

Floor Area Ratio

Parking Spaces per
Square Foot of
Floor Space

General Community

Commercial Shopping

261+0 2GkO

5 to 1 3o6 to 1

1 to 1000 1 to 500

Office, Labor-
Neighborhood atory and
Shopping Professional

26i+0
2.k to 1

1 to 500

22,000

2.h to 1

1 to 300

The above building intensities and standards will result in a
good physical environment if optimum use is made of techniques of land
development, building design and orientation, and overall site arrange-
ments which produce the most efficient use of land.

The standards proposed as a basis for redevelopment include
those described above and meet the requirements of local law and the pur-
poses of the California Community Redevelopment Law,

3- Attainment of P\irposes of the Law

The proposed redevelopment would attain the purposes of the
California Community Redevelopment Law for the following reasons:

a) The project area comprises a part of the larger Western
Addition area found and determined to be a blighted area by the Board
of Supervisors of the City and County of San Francisco in Ordinance
Number 5082 (Series of 1939), approved by the Mayor, August 3, 19^8,
and designated in this ordinance as a redevelopment area, following a
report by the City Planning Commission dated December h, 19^7 ^ recom-
mending such action, and a public hearing held June 3^ 19^8^ by the
Board of Supervisors.

Appendix iii

b) The proposed redevelopment would remove the blighted con-
ditions now characteristics of the project area= The entire Western
Addition has been the subject of intensive research which has served to
emphasize the prevalence in the area of inadequate provision for ventila-
tion light, sanitation, open space and recreational facilities; obsoles-
cence; deterioration; dilapidation; overcrowding of buildings; and a mixed
character and shifting of uses. Surveys conducted in 1939^ 19^0, 19^5,
ISk-J, 19^9 and aggin in 1951 have revealed various of these conditions and
their effects in terms of an unsafe and undesirable living environment
characterized by ill health, transmission of disease, infant mortality,
juvenile delinquency, crime, accidents, fire and instability of values,

c) The promotion of sound redevelopment of blighted areas, the
declared policy of the State, is accomplished by the proposed redevelop-
ment through the elimination of blight and the development of residential,
commercial and other areas properly served by necessary community facili-
ties such as schools, parks and playgrounds „

4„ Conformity with the Master Plan

The proposed redevelopment conforms to the Master Plan of San
Francisco 0 Eeference is made to previous actions of the City Planning
Commission, including: 1) Eesolution No. 2998, December 20, 19^5^ adopt-
ing a Master Plan composed of reports entitled The Master Plan of San
Francisco, The Land Use Plan, Transportation Utilities, and Redevelopment
of Blighted Areas; 2) Action of the City Planning Commission, July YJ ,
1951, adopting a Trafficways Plan; 3) Action of the City Planning Commis-
sion, January I8, 1951^ adopting a One-way Street Plan; and k) other
actions relating to capital improvements in the area.

Therefore, the proposed redevelopment conforms with the Master
Plan and properly relates redevelopment, and 1) the Geary Street widening,
adopted on July YJ , 19^1, as part of the Trafficways Plan; 2) the plan to
make Gough and Franklin Streets a pair of one-way streets, as adopted
January I8, I95I; 3) the principle of expansion of recreational and educa-
tional land uses in the Western Addition as adopted on December 20, 19^5
as part of the Land Use Plan; and k) the capital improvements proposed for
the community center, namely: a) the conversion of Girls' High School to a
junior high school, listed in the Capital Improvement Program for 195I-52
to 1956-57 as in conformity with the Master Plan; and b) a Hamilton Recrea-
tion Center, listed in the same Capital Improvement Program with the comment,
"It is recommended that the site plan allow for the future widening of Geary
Street as proposed in the Trafficways Piano"

Appendix iv

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Under the California Community Bedevelopment Law the Redevelopment Agency
and Department of City Planning each have certain responsibilities in formulat-
ing redevelopment plans and programs o The Redevelopment Agency has the benefit
under the National Housing Act of 19^9^ of financial aid and technical advice
from the Housing and Home Finance Agency of the Federal Government »

Prior to enactment of the National Housing Act of 19^9 the section of the
Western Addition lying south of California Street was designated as a Redevelop
ment Area by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors o Studies conducted by the
Department of City Planning with the aid of a Citizens Advisory Committee and
with Mel Scott as consultant in charge of staff work, had recommended designa-
tion of the area and had centered attention on the eastern end of what is now
called Project Area Number One, or the Geary area, in the Western Addition »

Under the National Housing Act, funds were first made available during
1950 so that technical studies could be undertaken to develop a comprehensive
program of redevelopment planning = William Ludlow was made responsible to the
Director of the Redevelopment Agency for these, with aid from the Department
of City Planning, whose Director formed a committee for the purpose, consist-
ing of George Duggar, Francis Violich, and Sydney Williams.

During late 1950 and early 1951 alternative plans for the Geary area were
developed by Mro Ludlow and May Steinmesch who presented their plans for dis-
cussion by an inter-agency review committee which included Director of Plan-
ning Paul Opperman of the Department of City Planning, Director James Lash
of the Redevelopment Agency, and staff members of the two offices - George
Duggar, Bryant Hall, Ruth Jaffe, James McCarthy, Harry Sanders, and Francis
Violich.

In August, 1951 a program was prepared by the Department of City Planning
stating agreed assumptions and standards and the results of market analysis
completed to that time,, MTo Duggar was assigned full time as project director
for the Preliminary Plan and Mr. Ludlow was assigned full-time to preparation
of the Tentative Plan which, under the law includes a financial analysis.
The Agency made available its staff, its consulting architects, Vernon DeMars
and Albert Roller, and its consulting engineer E. Elmore Hutchison, and gave
a work order to the Department of City Planning to permit establishment of
two temporary positions and for other expenses required in order for it to
present a completed Preliminary Plan.

For the Prelim.inary Plan, Jack E„ Davis, Harold Gilbert, Leo Holub, and
May Steinmesch worked on design, with Mr. Davis concentrating on the plan
for streets and open spaces, Mr. Gilbert on the buildings and their place-
ment, Mr, Holub on photography and on posters and plates used in presenting
the plan, and Miss Steinmesch on the utility plan and on plans for rehabili-
tation of existing buildings,

Roy Cameron worked with the design team to maintain standards control,
measuring areas and capacities of sketch designs, and analyzing them in

terms of the standards « Using sections contributed by Marie Cerlberg, James
Keilty, and May Steinmesch^ Mr, Cameron wrote the first draft of the report.
Marie Saccaro designed the cover and she and Frank Hendricks contributed to
the design of the report.

All those who had participated in the earlier inter-agency review com-
mittee also advised on the Preliminary Plan except for Mr, Violich who left
the Department of City Planning to join the faculty of the University of
California in June^ 1951- Julia B, Smith and Warner Shippee joined the
Redevelopment Agency and the review group in August, 1951-

The Preliminary Redevelopment Plan has been a cooperative enterprise,
and many organizations and individuals have helped, including many organiza-
tions with headquarters in the Geary area. Special mention is made of the
departments of the City and County of San Francisco, including the offices
of the:

City Attorney
Assessor

Chief Administrative Officer
Board of Education
Fire Commission
Housing Authority
Parking Authority
Police Commission
Public Library Commission
Public Utilities Commission
Public Welfare Commission
Recreation and Park Commission
Department of Public Health
Department of Public Works
Real Estate Department

Special attention, also, is made of the help of the utility companies
operating in the area including 5

Pacific Gas and Electric Company
Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company

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